Why is a relaxed state of mind so important for creative insights? When our minds are at ease — when those alpha waves are rippling through the brain— we're more likely to direct the spotlight of attention inward, toward that stream of remote associations emanating from the right hemisphere. In contrast, when we are diligently focused, our attention tends to be directed outward, toward the details of the problems we're trying to solve. While this pattern of attention is necessary when solving problems analytically, it actually prevents us from detecting the connections that lead to insights. "That's why so many insights happen during warm showers," Bhattacharya says. "For many people, it's the most relaxing part of the day." [Imagine: How Creativity Works]

Eric: What's the easiest way to increase willpower when you're tapped out?

Roy: Just eat something. In the lab we use sugary snacks, which I don't really recommend people use in their own life because they're not that good for you. We use it in the lab because we need something that works really fast and sugar gives you a quick burst of energy. Unfortunately, it's then followed by a quick crash. Your metabolic energy goes up and then it comes down again in a big way. Eat something, like protein, that your body will burn over a longer period of time.

The results show that the relationships of stressful life events with number of health complaints and perceived general health were significantly moderated by amount of green space in a 3-km radius. Respondents with a high amount of green space in a 3-km radius were less affected by experiencing a stressful life event than respondents with a low amount of green space in this radius. The same pattern was observed for perceived mental health, although it was marginally significant. The moderating effects of green space were found only for green space within 3 km, and not for green space within 1 km of residents' homes, presumably because the 3-km indicator is more affected by the presence of larger areas of green space, that are supposed to sustain deeper forms of restoration. These results support the notion that green space can provide a buffer against the negative health impact of stressful life events. [Social Science & Medicine]

Research shows that people who wrote a summary remember 50 percent more material over the long term than people who…(just) repeatedly read. …Passively reading a book — a relatively effortless process, letting the words wash over you like a warm bath — doesn't put you in the sweet spot. Less reaching equals less learning.

On the other hand, closing the book and writing a summary forces you to figure out the key points (one set of reaches), process and organize those ideas so they make sense (more reaches), and write them on the page (still more reaches, along with repetition). The equation is always the same: More reaching equals more learning. [The Little Book of Talent: 52 Tips for Improving Your Skills]

Pronovost and his colleagues monitored what happened for a year afterward. The results were so dramatic that they weren't sure whether to believe them: the 10-day line-infection rate went from 11 percent to zero. So they followed patients for 15 more months. Only two line infections occurred during the entire period. They calculated that, in this one hospital, the checklist had prevented 43 infections and eight deaths, and saved two million dollars in costs. [The New Yorker]

In a 1994 Harvard study that examined people who had radically changed their lives, for instance, researchers found that some people had remade their habits after a personal tragedy, such as a divorce or a life-threatening illness…Just as frequently, however, there was no tragedy that preceded people's transformations. Rather, they changed because they were embedded in social groups that made change easier… When people join groups where change seems possible, the potential for that change to occur becomes more real. [The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business]

Confidence is a real super power. Immediately increase it by looking at your resume.

I immediately think about my research credentials, a trick I developed after discovering that getting people to think about aspects of themselves that are conducive to success can actually be enough to propel them to a top performance and prevent choking… The mere act of realizing you aren't just defined by one dimension — your SAT score or a speech or a solo — can help curtail worries and negative thoughts. In essence, thinking about yourself from multiple perspectives can help relieve some pressure that you feel. [Choke: What the Secrets of the Brain Reveal About Getting It Right When You Have To]

…by the end of two weeks, the six-hour sleepers were as impaired as those who, in another Dinges study, had been sleep-deprived for 24 hours straight — the cognitive equivalent of being legally drunk. [The New York Times]